Bugs FAQ
This page is dedicated to providing resolutions or explanations to frequently encountered bugs. If this FAQ does not answer your question please report your bug in our Bugs Forum or via the Support System if the issue is of critical importance.
Login & Loading
Server Error
502 Bad Gateway Nginx Error
From time to time players will receive a variety of http errors. These usually lasts no longer than a few minutes. After waiting a few minutes try to refresh your page by pressing the refresh button on your browser toolbar.
If the game still isn't available after 15 minutes, please report this on the forums so a member of the staff can investigate.
Invalid Server Response
Certain game functions occasionally give the error "invalid server response". This is usually because your game session has expired or possibly the result of an external program blocking The West or www.the-west.net's Fort Servers (see below). AVG in particular is known to block these items under certain settings. Try setting exceptions in these programs, or temporarily disable them completely, to resolve this issue.
Registration Not Working
If you didn't receive the confirmation email after registering, please check to see if it ended up in your junk folder. It may be possible that your spamfilter tool blocked the email.
Additionally, the following email providers are known to block our emails completely:
- rr.com
- comcast.net
If you are using one of these email providers, we suggest registering a web based email such as Gmail, Hotmail or Yahoo Mail which are all accessible from any location over the Internet and remain available for use should you ever switch Internet Service Providers.
Map Not Loading
If the game screen fails to load, usually displaying a large black or green box with dysfunctional menus, try hard refreshing the page. In most Windows browsers, this is done by pressing by pressing Ctrl + F5. Similar to the "invalid server response" error, it is also possible an external program is blocking your connection to The West.
If the problem persists, then you may be suffering from the informally named "Google DNS Virus". When infected with the virus, your computer's Domain Name System (DNS) is 'poisoned' by the virus, allowing it to send you to a different server than your intended destination when you access a webpage. Unfortunately, this virus is known to attack our included Google Analytics script.
To remove the virus, please download an up to date anti-virus program and run a full scan such as Avast!. It may be helpful to download a secondary "on demand" scanner to ensure all traces of the virus are removed. (Note: as this virus can redirect you to a different server, it may attempt to block these anti-virus download websites. If this happens, try downloading them from a different computer and transferring the installer files via a USB flash drive.) Once the virus is removed, you may need to flush your DNS cache in order to correct the issue. The following websites can assist you with this: [1] [2]
Jobs & Quests
Some Jobs Do Not Appear On The Map
Each job requires different skillpoints. If you have don't have enough points, you won't be able to do the job. If you have way to little points, you won't even see it on the map. Remember skill points are affected by clothing, so if a previously visible job disappears then try changing your outfit.
To find out what is the best outfit for a job, you can visit multiple sites:
Quests Not Appearing
Quests have multiple dependencies:
- Some quests are part of decision questlines. This means selecting one option will cause the other available options to disappear. You can always cancel an accepted option, but once you complete a quest your decision cannot be reversed.
- Other quests have a time requirement and will only be available in certain time frames. These could be limited to certain times, specific days and/or holiday seasons.
- Quests not given in the saloon (questgivers on the map) will only show when you are at the questgiver.
If you are sure one of the above points isn't the reason you can't see or do a quest, please post your question in the forum Questions and Guides. Registered forum users can also visit the Quest discussion part of the forum for further information. It will contain spoilers.
Towns & Forts
Unable To Connect During Fortbattle
Failed to establish a connection to the server. Please make sure that network ports 1582 and 1028 aren't blocked by a router or firewall. If you're sure the ports aren't blocked, please contact support.
Security error: Error #2048. Reloading the page may help.
These errors usually mean that some external program or hardware is blocking your connection to our fort servers, usually a firewall (particularly if connecting through a corporate network), anti virus software or router. Set exceptions for our servers and fort servers in these places and try again. It may be helpful to update your flash player or try using a different browser if possible.
If the problem persists, you can try this test (for Windows only) to see if an external program is still blocking your connection, or if the problem lies elsewhere:
- In the start menu, open run, type cmd and hit enter. A black box titled "command prompt" should appear.
- Type "telnet en1.the-west.net 1582" into the box, replacing en1 with the world you are playing on, and hit enter.
- If you receive an error "'telnet' is not recognised..." then read on. Otherwise skip to step 7.
- Open the Control Panel, click Uninstall a Program and select Turn Windows Features On or Off in the left menu bar.
- Scroll down to "Telnet Client" and place a tick in the corresponding checkbox. Note: if disabled by default, remember to disable it again after you have finished this test.
- Save the changes and repeat steps 1 and 2 again.
- If an external program is still blocking your connection, you will receive an error such as "connection refused". Stop here and go back to check for any programs that may be blocking your connection to our servers. Otherwise a blank screen will appear.
- Press enter a few times until you see a new directory line appear in the window. Type "telnet en1.the-west.net 1028" and hit enter.
- If an external program is still blocking your connection, you will receive an error such as "connection refused". Stop here and go back to check for any programs that may be blocking your connection to our servers. Otherwise a blank screen will appear.
If you were able to connect in both tests, yet the problem persists, you may be dealing with a Domain Name Server (DNS) issue. Not all DNSs include all the fort battle server lists. A reliable alternative, to access www.the-west.net fort servers, is via a Google DNS server (8.8.8.8). Instructions to configure Google DNS can be found here: [3]
Flag Cannot Be Changed
Before uploading a new flag it is best to delete the old flag. You must delete and add a flag as separate actions, ticking the delete button and uploading a flag at the same time will not work. Also ensure the flag is the correct file type, size and dimensions. After you have deleted your old flag and uploaded your new flag, please hard refresh the page by pressing Ctrl + F5 on your keyboard. If that doesn't help, try clearing your cache from within your browser's options menu. (Ctrl + Shift + Del in most browsers.)
Duelling
Dueller Is Not At My Location
A dueller doesn't need to be at your location at the time he duels you, rather they need to be at the spot you were when they scheduled the duel. This means you cannot avoid a duel by moving to a new location, however if you reach a hotel forty five minutes before the duel ends then it will be successfully cancelled.
Soldier Wielding Higher Weapon
The soldier class has a character bonus that allows him to use weapons (duelling and fort) 3 levels earlier then other classes. When a soldier is also using the Double Character Bonus premium, they can then use weapons up to 6 levels higher than usual.
Duelled Whilst Townless
Normally you cannot be duelled unless you are a member of a town. However, if a player leaves town with an uncollected bounty on their head then they can still be duelled until the bounty is collected. Note: You cannot place a bounty directly upon a townless player.
Duelled Incorrectly
Previously a rare bug has existed where it has been possible to duel other people in normally impossible circumstances, such as whilst they are asleep, in a fort battle or under 48 hour protection. These bugs should be resolved with Version 1.31, however if you experience them again please alert support.
Can't Change Duel Settings
Duel settings cannot be changed if a duel is pending or ongoing, or if the duel menu was opened under these circumstances. Once all scheduled duels have been completed or cancelled, you can change your duel settings again once you refresh or close and reopen the duel menu.
Chat
Chat Not Loading
As the chat server shares ports with the fort server, please follow the bug procedures for connecting to fort battles. Also ensure JavaScript is enabled in your browser.
Cannot Speak In Chat
Note: This information may be out of date or missing new details.
The chat system is a relatively known feature that has a few bugs. The developers are presently working on various performance and maintenance improvements that will fix several bugs and prevent the chat server from crashing.
Until these changes are finalised, there are a few things you can do. Since any errors you experience are probably caused by the server, database and browser becoming out of sync, try hard refreshing the page (Ctrl + F5). If the problem has not resolved itself after 24 hours then please report the problem in a new thread or ticket.
Market
Destination Is A Ghost Town
This is a known problem that occurs when a town is abandoned before your item is collected. To collect your item either press collect button from within your town market or open the ghost town and press the collect item button.
Bought Wrong Item
The search results do not refresh automatically. If you changed your search criteria then you will need to push the search button again, otherwise you will bid on your previous search.
Browser Errors
Unsupported Browsers
Whilst we technically support the latest versions of all five major browsers - Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Apple Safari, Internet Explorer and Opera - we find some browsers tend to work better than others. If you are having difficulty with a minor bug, try switching to a recommended browser such as Mozilla Firefox and see if this solves your issue.
Outdated Browsers
Older browsers, such as IE6, can exhibit a range of errors. It is advisable to upgrade to a more up to date version of your browser. Latest versions can be found here: